The three bartenders representing Sweden at the World Class European final have been selected after a thrilling national final in Stockholm. Eric Söderlund, Victor Nordelöf, and Toby Green will now travel to Rotterdam, where one of them will be crowned Sweden’s best bartender and earn a place at the global final this autumn.
The Swedish World Class final has delivered its verdict. After an intense national competition, three bartenders will represent Sweden at the European final in Rotterdam: Eric Söderlund of Sway in Gothenburg, Victor Nordelöf of Nobis Hotel in Stockholm, and Toby Green of Hotel Kung Carl in Stockholm. There, at the end of June, one of them will be crowned Sweden’s World Class Bartender of the Year 2026 and secure a coveted place at the global final in Scotland this autumn.
World Class remains one of the world’s most respected bartending competitions, a stage where creativity, technical control, product knowledge, storytelling, and hospitality are judged under pressure. Since its launch in 2009, the competition has helped shape modern cocktail culture across more than 60 countries.
For Sweden, this year’s final showed the breadth of the country’s bar scene: experience, ambition, precision, and a new generation unafraid to borrow from food, theater, and global cocktail culture.
Eric Söderlund, from Sway in Gothenburg, is no stranger to the competition. This was his seventh World Class appearance, and he has previously reached the European final several times. Originally from Gotland, Söderlund began his working life as a carpenter before finding his way into the bar world. In Gothenburg, he became part of the early Pinchos journey, later opened Adamo, and has now launched Sway, which he describes as a postmodern cocktail bar.
For Söderlund, competition is not only about the community, although that matters too. “I’m there to win,” he says. His drinks in the final drew on classics such as the Tom Collins, Clover Club, and Mint Julep, united by the idea of social moments and shared experience.
Victor Nordelöf of Nobis Hotel brings an unusually international background. After starting behind the bar in Uppsala in 2004, he moved to London, working at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, LAB, and the influential Callooh Callay, which became one of the world’s most talked-about bars during his time there.
He later trained as a chiropractor before returning fully to hospitality. Today he is Executive Bar Manager at Nobis Hotel in Stockholm. Having competed in World Class before, Nordelöf entered this year determined to sharpen his presentation. His final drinks included The Striding Cup, The Shieldhall Gimlet, and Black in Bloom — the latter a dark, floral interpretation inspired by the early Vodka Espresso, the predecessor to the Espresso Martini.
Toby Green, Bar Manager at Hotel Kung Carl in Stockholm, represents a younger competitive voice. He began in hospitality at 15, first as a dishwasher within Scandic, before moving into bartending around 2018. Since then, he has worked across Stockholm bars including Haymarket, La Tour, and Kung Carl.
Raised in a family of chefs, Green brings a distinctly culinary perspective to cocktails. In the final, he stood out by incorporating pairings and flavors from the food world — including doughnuts, charcuterie, fruit, and classic Martini snacks. His serves included pear and vanilla, a strawberry cake-inspired Daiquiri, dark berries, and a classic Martini with olives and zest.
The Rotterdam final will now test the three bartenders on an even larger stage. Each arrives with a different strength: Söderlund’s competitive experience and playful conceptual thinking, Nordelöf’s international polish and precision, and Green’s culinary imagination and calm presence.
Only one will continue to the global final. But together, they show a Swedish bar scene with confidence, range, and serious ambition.
